Britain's Got Talent (series 1)
The first series of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2007, from 9 June to 17 June on ITV. The first series was commissioned following the success of America's Got Talent, and helped to revive production of a British edition after initial development for the programme was suspended. The first series saw Simon Cowell, the programme's creator, being joined by Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden as the judges for those participating in the competition, with Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly operating as the programme's hosts. The first was also accompanied by a spin-off sister programme on ITV2, broadcast alongside the main programme, entitled Britain's Got More Talent, and hosted by Stephen Mulhern.
The first series was won by opera singer Paul Potts; as of 2019, result information on other finalists has yet to be disclosed. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 8.4 million viewers. The first series faced controversy relating to the involvement of two participants who failed to disclose information that would make them ineligible for participation, alongside receiving criticism from viewers for airing footage that was considered unsuitable during one of the semi-finals.
Series overview
After Simon Cowell pitched to ITV his plans for a televised talent competition, production was green-lighted for a full series after a pilot episode was created in mid-2005. However, a dispute broke out between Paul O'Grady, the original choice as host for the programme, and the broadcaster, that resulted in O'Grady signing up to another broadcaster. His decision resulted in production being suspended, and did not resume until in the wake of the success of the first series of America's Got Talent. When it did resume, production staff focused on a schedule of ten episodes to begin with for the first series of Britain's Got Talent, with major auditions for potential acts held within the cities of Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cardiff. The initial choices for judges changed to begin with following O'Grady's decision to switch broadcasters, with it eventually finalised on Cowell, Piers Morgan, and Amanda Holden.Of the participants who auditioned to be in the contest for this series, only 24 made it into the three live semi-finals, with eight appearing in each one, and six of these acts moving on into the live final. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
| Participant | Genre | Act | Semi-final | Result |
| Bessie Cursons | Music | Musical Theatre Performer | 2 | ' |
| Caroline Boyes | Dance | Dancer | 1 | |
| Cheeky Bits | Dance | Dance Group | 3 | |
| Connie Talbot | Singing | Singer | 3 | ' |
| Craig Womersley | Variety | Baton Twirler | 2 | |
| Crazeehorse | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Duo | 2 | |
| Crew 82 | Music | Beat Boxing Group | 3 | |
| Damon Scott | Comedy | Comic Puppeteer | 1 | ' |
| Doctor Gore | Magic | Magician | 3 | |
| Dominic Smith | Singer | Singer | 1 | |
| Jack Reeve | Dance | Tap Dancer | 2 | |
| Jake Pratt | Singing / Comedy | Comic Singer | 2 | |
| Kombat Breakers | Dance | Dance Group | 2 | ' |
| Luke & Charlotte | Dance | Ballroom Dancers | 1 | |
| MD Productions | Dance | Dance Group | 1 | |
| Mel's Klever K9’S | Animal / Dance | Line Dancing Dog Act | 1 | |
| Mike Garbutt | Comedy | Impressionist | 3 | |
| Paul Potts | Singing | Opera Singer | 1 | ' |
| Scott Holtom | Dance | Dancer | 3 | |
| The Bar Wizards | Variety | Cocktail Jugglers | 3 | ' |
| The Free Runners | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Group | 1 | |
| The Mini-Mezzos | Dance | Dance Group | 2 | |
| Tony Laf | Singing | Singer | 3 | |
| Victoria Armstrong | Variety | Angle Grinder | 2 |
Semi-final summary
Semi-final 1 (14 June)
Semi-final 2 (15 June)
Semi-final 3 (16 June)
Final (17 June)
| Finalist | Order | Act | Result |
| Kombat Breakers | 1 | Dance Group | |
| Damon Scott | 2 | Comic Puppeteer | |
| Bessie Cursons | 3 | Musical Theatre Performer | |
| The Bar Wizards | 4 | Cocktail Jugglers | |
| Connie Talbot | 5 | Singer | |
| Paul Potts | 6 | Opera Singer |
Ratings
| Episode | Date | Official ratings | Weekly rank | Share |
| Auditions 1 | 9 June | 5.20 | 12 | 22.7% |
| Auditions 2 | 10 June | 6.73 | 8 | 28.0% |
| Auditions 3 | 11 June | 7.28 | 15 | 29.4% |
| Auditions 4 | 12 June | 7.39 | 13 | 29.3% |
| Auditions 5 | 13 June | 7.51 | 11 | 29.2% |
| Semi-final 1 | 14 June | 8.36 | 9 | 34.0% |
| Semi-final 2 | 15 June | 9.28 | 8 | 38.1% |
| Semi-final 3 | 16 June | 9.29 | 7 | 40.9% |
| Live final | 17 June | 11.58 | 1 | 43.7% |
| Live final results | 17 June | 11.45 | 2 | 44.7% |
Criticism & controversies
Failure to disclose information
During filming for the series, ITV and the production staff had to remove two separate groups who auditioned for Britain's Got Talent - Richard Bates, and the Kit Kat Dolls - after two separate sources came forward with information that showed they had failed to disclose information about themselves. The failure to disclose this information was considered a breach of Section 24 of the programme's terms and conditions in regards to applying for the programme:"The Producer reserves the right to disqualify you if you have supplied untruthful, inaccurate or misleading personal details and/or information, have failed to abide by the Rules and/or are in breach of the terms hereof."
Bates' removal from the programme was the result of a request by Lancashire Police, who revealed him to be on the UK's Violent and Sex Offender Register for an offence he had committed in 2005, and were concerned that his appearance would unsettle those affected by his crime. The Kit Kat Dolls were disqualified after an undercover investigation by the News of the World found that three of the group were secretly working as prostitutes.